Eric Clapton’s Watchmaker

By Robert Milburn

Last fall, Geneva auctions sold twenty-two Patek Philippe watches that collectively fetched $18 million. Among them was Eric Clapton’s bejeweled watch (Ref. 2499/100) with a perpetual calendar, which takes into account monthly variations like leap years, and three subsidiary dials, including one with a moon phase surrounded by the days of the month. The watch went for $3.6 million, its value increasing 14 times since its original production in 1989. No doubt that was partly due to the rock guitarist’s legendary status, but the watch speaks for itself – only one other such Patek Philippe watch with a platinum casing exists in the world.

Patek Philippe is known for producing its models in limited production numbers, and doesn’t reveal how many watches the firm produces. It can take up to two years – from the moment of purchase until the watch is finally shipped – before a customer receives his timepiece. There is method to this madness. Patek Philippe doesn’t want its production to fall into the hands of rare-watch speculators, who flip the timepieces for a profit, and so this drawn out process of delivery allows for lengthy background checks to ensure the buyer is a genuine collector.

Patek was founded in 1839 by two Polish immigrants. From humble beginnings, the company eventually became a watchmaker with “It.” Queen Victoria purchased her diamond studded pendant watch at London’s Universal Exhibition in 1851. When the watchmaker fell on hard times in 1932, brothers Charles and Jean Stern purchased the firm. It has remained wholly-owned by the Stern family since then, with the fourth generation President Thierry Stern currently at the helm.

Unlike other Swiss watchmakers setting up their own boutiques in the U.S., Patek Philippe is sticking to its third-party distribution system. “I need 100 percent of our energy on creating watches,” Stern told me. He further claimed that the family business model keeps the watchmaker concentrated on quality and the Patek legacy. “With other companies there is a CEO for twenty years then the guy retires,” he said. “I’m preparing everything for my sons, so it’s a different vision.”

Part of that legacy is continuously educating the public as to what is in the DNA of one of the world’s finest watch companies, which is why the firm recently toured the globe with timepieces from the Patek Museum and the Stern family’s personal collection. The press-only event recently held in New York featured brightly lit displays showcasing Patek models, surrounded by watch engineers in white lab coats precisely explaining the mechanics of the pieces.

In the middle of the room, a curtained structure was eventually revealed to show Patek’s museum collection. Stern told me it was helpful to show “the different aspects of design from my grandfather to me.” There was, for example, an 1895 rose gold pocket watch, called a “train watch”, with a stop watch feature which allowed wealthy train travelers to precisely time their trips.

A yellow gold wristwatch from 1952 had a similar recording feature, but was the first branded chronograph wristwatch, and sported fine details, including leaf-shaped hands. Only 349 versions of this unique watch have been produced since, one of which was the Clapton watch that went to auction.

To make sure we got the point – the watchmaker’s DNA is continuously passed on down the generations – both of these antique watches were displayed next to Patek’s 2013 models that were unveiled earlier this year at BaselWorld. Side by side, it was easy to recognize Patek’s gift for complicated technical functions balanced smartly against refined design.

Success breeds copycats, of course, but Stern seemed sanguine. “I am unafraid because next year I will bring out something new, something stronger, even more difficult or surprising,” he said, emphatically smacking the table. “I do not believe they can follow us in the long run.”

Minute repeaters serve no functional purpose in modern watchmaking. They were, like a grandfather clock in a vest pocket, originally made to chime the hours in the dark, before the invention of electricity and lights. Minute repeaters are suddenly back in vogue with all high-end watchmakers, attracting collectors for their vintage appeal and sonorous melodies recreated in ever thinner watches.

The Patek engineers continuously reminded onlookers that Monsieur Stern personally approves each repeater’s chime, before it is sent from the factory to the customer. The chiming complication appears in the robust-sounding rose gold 5104P. The 602,000 Swiss franc ($633,118) perpetual calendar wristwatch, with a hand indicating the date, is dramatically coupled to a skeleton dial that exposes all the watch’s inner guts and gears.

The 5207R for CHF 690,000 is, meanwhile, both sharp and calmer by comparison. Its rose gold encasement (also sold in platinum) frames an attractive black opaline dial. It’s also Patek’s third most complicated wristwatch and includes a tourbillon, a rotating cage that counters the effects of gravity. For women, look out for the 7000R, a delicately chiming timepiece sporting a cream-colored dial with gold numerals,a soft counterpoint to all the masculine engineering under its hood.

When prompted to identify which was his favorite, one engineer placed the women’s 7000R against his wrist and said, “With a different band this would even look excellent on a man.”

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There are 5 comments

JULY 3, 2013 5:35 P.M.

Kirk Cornwell wrote:

Just when I could afford one, I have to make a bet on staying alive for "delivery"? Timex rules.

JULY 3, 2013 10:50 P.M.

TiredOfFlippingTheBill wrote:

We own a couple of H Stern men and women's sapphire watches with the blue titanium bands. We have had them for over 20 years and both are still amazing. We have had to have the batteries changes a few times.

I have a Patek Phillipe that my in laws gave me about 15 or so years ago. Again, it is a very nice watch. I have no idea how much it cost.

JULY 5, 2013 7:23 A.M.

Retired wrote:

"Grandfather, what's a 'watch' ?"

JULY 6, 2013 10:24 P.M.

Anonymous wrote:

Grandson, watch is a nothing but big ego dicckk who has money coming out of his wazook.

JULY 10, 2013 10:30 A.M.

TiredOfFlippingTheBill wrote:

@ 10:24 -- this ends up costing $0.008 per day to own -- less than a penny. You understand the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.

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About Penta

Written with Barron’s wit and often contrarian perspective, Penta provides the affluent with advice on how to navigate the world of wealth management, how to make savvy acquisitions ranging from vintage watches to second homes, and how to smartly manage family dynamics.

Richard C. Morais, Penta’s editor, was Forbes magazine’s longest serving foreign correspondent, has won multiple Business Journalist Of The Year Awards, and is the author of two novels: The Hundred-Foot Journey and Buddhaland, Brooklyn. Robert Milburn is Penta’s reporter, both online and for the quarterly magazine. He reviews everything from family office regulations to obscure jazz recordings.